Dying With You
by arosem
Summary: A series of one shots of Percy and/or Annabeth dying.
1. Falling

Falling

_It's a stupid way to go_, I thought as the wind whipped my hair into his face, but _with him. It won't be so bad._ His arms were strong around me, his heartbeat steady, despite our velocity. His bare chest was warm and his hands were tight around my waist. His eyes were closed and his breath was being pulled up by the wind so fast that I didn't have a chance to feel it, the only thing that assured me he was still alive, for now, was his heartbeat. I pulled my ear away from his chest and he held me tighter, as not to let me fall, that is, let me fall alone. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned in. As my lips brushed his ever so slightly, his eyes flew open. They were a shining turquoise, the blue of the sky shining off of his normally green irises. Long, black lashes trimmed his eyelid and made his eyes seem even larger and tragically beautiful. The things that flash through your mind when you're falling from eight-thousand-four-hundred-eighty-four feet are things that you don't expect. I didn't see my whole life flash before my eyes, I didn't think about whether or if I would choose rebirth, or what I'd last said to my friends, or how I wanted more time. No, I only felt thrill. A horrible, terrifying, exhilarating, totally awake, yet almost asleep, fiery thrill. The kind of thrill that's like your first kiss added to a roller coaster, hell's flames, the love of your family, paradise, and torture put into a single breath that is multiplied by trillions. The thrill was directed at one thing, and one thing only, him. Percy Jackson, my true love, the boy who gave me everything I needed, the man who grew up with me, the love who promised he'd be with me to the end. And here we were, falling from the six hundredth floor of the Empire State Building, falling from the place we saved, falling from the home of our ancestors, falling from Olympus itself. His eyes were full of the thrill that filled my heart, a 'this is the end' kind of moment, a 'it'll never be better than this' look. And the tragic beauty of his eyes was poured into me as he turned a slight brush of our lips into something magical. He used one arm to pull my head closer to him and he kissed me. It was the best way to go down. A stupid way to go down, a totally unheroic trip up, but a tragic and lovely end. An end with him. And as all those thoughts poured into my last kiss, I felt as if it had been hours, but my calculations told me that those long feelings had been only a matter of seconds. As the ground grew closer, I closed my eyes, letting him pull me close, feeling his heart beat faster, feeling mine join his tune. Love, thrill, and terror coursed through me, making me feel as if we were the only ones in the world. Our lives would end soon, very soon, but it didn't matter, because there was a flame now. Our lives were short, but they were bright and loud. We were in love till death, and not even that could stop it.


	2. Burning

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

It was over, and I knew it. There wasn't a way out of this one. We'd known for a while, our "luck" wouldn't last forever. It was the way things worked out, it was the way the Fates decided to end us. The flames closed around us and my heart felt strangely at peace with this fate. The events of the past few minutes whirred through my minds and I thought, _I'm okay with this. It'll be okay. _

_"Daddy!" My Luke shrieked. I walked into the room, prepared to clean up a broken glass or something. But what I found was much worse. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Please! Help me! Daddy, I'm scared!" The flames on the curtains were spreading to the roof and sofa. Luke was crouched in the corner, trembling, his hands over his ears, his blue eyes full of tears. _

"_Come here. Run to me!" He shook his head hard, trembling with fear. "Annabeth! Call 911!" I ran through the small space between the curtains and the wall, picked up Luke, football style and sprinted back through the gap, with my son on the side opposite the fire. My left shoulder seared with pain as I set the three-year-old down. I told him to run downstairs and go outside, after looking at me uncertainly, he ran for the staircase. I ran back through the flames, swatting out a flame on my pant leg, and arrived in my room. Anne was lying on the bed, asleep and oblivious to the fire that now enveloped the entire hallway. She jerked out of her slumber, blonde hair in a tousled mess. "There's a fire." I grabbed her hand, but when I turned to run through the door, I realized it too was on fire. There was no way out. No windows in our room, something Annabeth had insisted on for monster issues. We were stuck. With that much of the hallway in flames, the only person who could go through it would be Leo. And he had our other two children at Camp at the moment. I pulled Riptide out and started whacking the wall, trying to create a hole large enough to jump through. I could hear the sirens outside, but at the rate the flames were crawling into our room, there wouldn't be time. The hole was just large enough to see through. _

"_Jason! Piper! Riley! Amber! Jason! Jaaaaaasooooon!" The next door window opened and the blonde's face went sheet white when he saw my face through the hole. _

_ "What the-" Then his eyes drifted to the smoke, "I'm coming!" He crawled out the window and flew towards us. The fire was only ten feet away from Annabeth and I. He started at the wall with his sword, but the house was built sturdily. It wasn't going to break in time for us to get out. _

_Annabeth pushed me away from the hole, "Take care of Charlie, Paul, and Luke? Please!" Jason's face held more terror than ours. He nodded quickly. _

_ "But where's L-"_

"_He's out front. Tell 'em we love 'em?" My voice broke because I knew this was the end. But in that moment, when Jason nodded solemnly and flew away, I knew that he'd do just that. He and Piper would raise our kids along with their own, loving them just as much. And if they were okay, I could go…_

A tear streaked down Annabeth's cheek and I kissed it away. My eyes wandered to her swollen belly, holding the baby that wouldn't get a chance at life, the child that wouldn't get to laugh and swim and go to camp, the child that would die with us. I pulled my love to my chest and kissed her for the last time. And we danced, a slow, sweet dance. Our last dance, a dance with three people, two who weren't afraid to die, and one who didn't yet know what it was to die, one who would learn all too soon. I breathed in the scent of her, for the last time. The flames licked my feet and although I felt the pain, I didn't cry out, I didn't stop dancing. I twirled Anne. She stepped on a burning book, but came right back to my chest. Fire enveloped us, and I savored how it felt to hold her in my arms, for the last time. I savored her love, as two prepared to die for three. As my love and I danced until we could dance no more, as we treasured our lives, the sweet taste of our success.

Pointless, you might say, to survive two major wars, to save the world, then die because your son knocked over a candle. But I'd say it was okay. We saw three of our four children laugh, swim, and love. We loved each other fully. And now, as we lay on the floor, my body covering hers, I know that we'll see each other again. All three of us will be waiting for the rest of out family. We'll all be together. And that's how we went, slow dancing in a burning room.


End file.
